Blogging NYT: O.K., Avatar, Work With Me

Last summer we shared a story with you about a University of Pennsylvania study showing that "parenthood demonstrably reduces physical activity." (But, hey, you save on gym memberships!). Now the Wii Fit aims to make at-home exercise easy and accessible for families.

Wii Fit ($90) is an added component to the Wii system ($250) and includes a balance board, which resembles a short aerobic step, as well as a host of "games" including aerobics, dance, hula-hooping, yoga, balance activities, running, etc.

This video will give you a better idea of how the Wii Fit works and how you can use it (we also thought this parody video made some good points):

New York Times writer Seth Schiesel asked four people to give the Wii Fit a trial and, to everyone's surprise, their reviews were largely favorable. We were mostly interested in the feedback from Shira Weiss a thirtysomething, work-from-home mom in New Jersey. Once a gym rat, her fitness routine has become a little less, um, structured: "Let me put it this way: I clean with vigor." Ms. Weiss sampled several Fit games and says she enjoyed it. She particularly liked how small the balance board was as compared to a treadmill or other gym equipment.

You can read the full Times article here. The Wii fit is already a huge success in Japan and the UK and will be hitting U.S. stores May 19th.

What do you think? Do you think the Wii Fit fits your family's lifestyle or should people (including kids) just get out and exercise in the real world like we always have (or have tried to)?